Green clothes aren't just for St Patrick's Day. You can put your green wardrobe to work this weekend in Hollywood as a VFX artist protest is being organized for March 2 2014 at 1:00 pm in anticipation of the Oscars that evening...

We are holding a rally to support legal action to help end the current subsidy race that is damaging the Visual Effects and Film industries. These subsidies are a form of corporate welfare used by Hollywood producers to game various governments against each other. These actions have led to a bidding war between governments that maximizes the amount of free taxpayer money for Hollywood productions that end up making billions of dollars. At the same time, this has unknowingly cost taxpayers billions.

This has also heavily distorted the playing field for work in the industry and has injured many of the businesses and the professionals who work behind the scenes. Many businesses have had to close or move to subsidized locations. Many professionals have suffered job loss, cycles of displacement, bankruptcy and foreclosures as they have been forced to chase work around the world.

We have attained the help of a Washington DC-based law firm that specializes in international trade to challenge subsidies in the US Court of International Trade. If the panel of judges and Department of Commerce agrees with us that we have the support of the domestic visual effects industry and it is indeed being harmed by international subsidies, a mandatory duty will be levied against producers who utilize these harmful subsidies. This would discipline the system and level the playing field. Presidential or Congressional approval is not needed.

We have plenty of green shirts for you to wear, but are running low on small sizes. When you arrive, be sure to get a green circle sticker placed on your shirt or dress. This will help us keep count of the number of people. Also, last year the police escorted us closer to the Oscars going west on Hollywood. If you don't see any of us keep walking west on Hollywood as we may have moved.

Here's my two cents... what's going on is not hurting the film industry. Since the "industry" is the people who hire other people to make their movies...those dudes are doing fine. In fact, overseas production is saving them lots of money. So they are prospering.

How is a protest going to help keep production here? Now that these companies pretty much don't need us. THe world just got smaller and easier to work with other people...and cheaper people.

Didn't the government/president just pass another NAFTA type bill to make it easier for people to ship work overseas??

I think it's time to reposition the community of creators for the new frontier.

Every industry has been damaged by international subsidies. Every industry. Our whole country is on a decline because of that.

Protesting is a form of asking for permission.

If we want our industry back we have to stop asking for permission. take it back.

Time to rebuild. The same small world that allows them to do what they will is the same small world that will allow us to rise to our authentic life.

they had a story about this on KCRW, NPR. It's nice to hear them getting coverage, but sadly it all sounds like desperate people with no power.

I'M all about changing the system and what they're talking about is about changing government bills that have been passed. Making subsidies that damage communities criminal...but thing is, that is something that is affecting every industry in our country. Stronger forces have tried to keep work here and change government policy with little to no results.

They say that even forming a union is off the plate because there's no jobs...so how are they gonna unionize...but even then, Unions don't guarantee jobs staying local.

I keep coming back to this. We have a whole community displaced. Creative people with nothing to do and a huge amount of energy put towards a battle that isn't designed to win.

So why not get back to creating and make a new industry. The need for content far outweighs the supply. The executives that are taking our jobs overseas know this. But if they told people then we wouldn't look for them for work. We'd make our own and connect with the audience....well, not everyone, but I believe more would..which would create more jobs...I still think crowdfunding is our new way.

I know it sucks to start all over. Believe me, I know....seem to do it all the time. But ""Change" seems to be what everyone cries out for but isn't willing to change themselves.

If the industry is successful in getting the courts to acknowledge that VFX imported from foreign countries are subject to the same tariffs and taxes that apply to tangible goods, then that only solves one part of the equation.

The biggest problem to overcome is the fixed bid process. I would never even consider taking a job with a fixed bid but the major VFX players have all conceded to it presumably because it was accepted by less business savvy VFX companies back in the 70s and 80s. Now the studios have the upper hand and it is accepted as commonplace. It would be nearly impossible for the VFX companies to have that language removed from the contracts unless all of them band together to agree that the "fixed bid" wording be removed. Unfortunately, that won't happen unless it is tacitly agreed upon by industry rivals. Also, there are so many new players in the industry that getting any sort of consensus from individual companies would be equivalent to herding cats.

Another major issue with visual effects is that the industry is weighted unevenly on all ends: too many workers: too many suppliers: too few clients. If you look at the number of studios (approximately six) and the number of suppliers (your guess is as good as mine: dozens to hundreds???) then the problem is inherent in the equation.

I suspect tariffs would be a minor threat but not one that would dramatically change the process.

NOTE: From the standpoint of the Hollywood studios the fixed bid was probably introduced to avoid having VFX companies bill hours that were unsupervised by the studios. In live action you can actually see a grip or gaffer doing his job so you make sure to wrap before hitting the OT point. The few times I have directed live action I was constantly aware of the clock. However, because of the nature of VFX it is hard for a producer to accept overages that they can't actually see.